The Kinesis team has grown once again, and we couldn’t be more excited to introduce the newest member of the Kinesis family. Please join us in welcoming the latest addition to Team Kinesis: Jacklyn Bartley!

As our new Client Coordinator, Jacklyn will be helping clients engage with Kinesis on a daily basis, ensuring all pieces are in place for a fantastic client experience. This position is part of our “make it happen” department here at Kinesis – and given her can-do attitude and track record of career success, Jacklyn is the perfect person for the job.

Jacklyn hails from Virginia, having moved to the Portland area 3 years ago. Before joining Kinesis, Jacklyn served as the Client Service Specialist for Buckley Law, a mid-size Lake Oswego-based law firm providing comprehensive legal services to both businesses and individuals. As Client Service Specialist, Jacklyn interfaced directly with clients and managed projects from start to finish. She facilitated success between departments by documenting, delegating, and keeping track of all the details.

I love seeing projects through to the end – helping it build, and getting to watch the progression and transformation.

When not at work, you can find Jacklyn learning Arabic (her third language after English and French), playing tennis, doing aerial yoga, or hanging out with her fat cat, Panda.

At Kinesis, we believe our people are the engine that powers our company to success – which is why we’re fanatical about hiring right fit employees, and helping our clients do the same. Jacklyn embodies our core values – Think Big, Share the Good, Build to Last, and Do the Right Thing – and we are overjoyed to have her onboard!

Want to learn more about Jacklyn and her role at Kinesis? Click here to connect with her on LinkedIn!

Interested in joining the Kinesis family? We’re hiring! Check out our Career Center for open positions.

]]>0Marcella Vailhttp://www.kinesisinc.com/?p=80912015-01-28T19:31:18Z2015-01-21T18:32:08ZYou’re pumped. You’re fired-up. You’re feeling awesome. You just landed on a powerful set of values, crystal-clear mission, and a Big-Hairy-Audacious-Goal (or big vision) equivalent to climbing Mt. Everest.

You can’t wait to start using these core elements to lead your team, build a culture of A-players, and create a customer base of raving fans.

But how?

Putting your values, mission, and vision to work

The answer is simple in theory, challenging in practice: over-communication. Meaning you seize every opportunity to frame business wins, challenges, decisions, and recognition by your values, mission, and vision.

Why? Because you want them to come alive within your culture—be living, breathing, and permeating (not reduced to platitudes or clichés).

The challenge

At this point, many leaders hesitate. Either they fear sounding overly repetitive, or (as organizational health expert, Patrick Lencioni, explains in his book The Advantage) “…many leaders struggle to embrace organizational health because they quietly believe they are too sophisticated, too busy, or too analytical to bother with it.”

Lencioni further asserts that most leaders confuse the mere transfer of information to an audience with the audience’s ability to understand, internalize, and embrace the message being communicated. However, the only way that people can embrace a message is to hear it over a period of time, in a variety of different situations, and preferably from different people.

The abundance of research around employee engagement shows us that business leaders who intentionally and consistently focus on culture (the “soft” stuff) see a return on their investment and superior business performance (the “hard” numbers).

Additionally, over-communication does not have to mean sounding like a broken-record. With some planning, thoughtfulness, creativity, and conviction you can move your values, mission, and vision beyond the planning session and into play.

How to over-communicate

Here’s a list of over-communication strategies successfully practiced by many of our clients:

Define: Write down personal definitions of your values, mission, and vision. Capture the nuances of their meanings and why they are on target for your company.

Share: Practice describing your values, mission, and vision to others (both in your professional and personal worlds); learn how to articulate what they mean to you.

Employ: Filter every decision, both large and small, by your values, mission, and vision. Ask yourself and your team, “Is this decision in line with our values? Are we delivering on our mission? Does this move us closer towards our big vision?”

Coach: Lean heavily on your values when coaching employees, and help them understand if their decisions and behaviors are in line with your core elements. Expect the same of your leadership when they coach their teams.

Recognize: Thank your people for upholding your values, mission, and vision both formally and informally.

Repeat: Weave your values, mission and vision into every meeting; frame decisions, goals, initiatives, recognition, etc… by them as often as possible.

Visualize: Design icons to symbolize your values, create signage or other high-impact visuals to brand your office space. Note: we don’t recommend making this move in isolation from the other over-communication strategies; walk your talk before hanging posters.

Measuring success

When will you know your values, mission, and vision are living and breathing within your culture? When you hear your employees use the language as part of everyday conversation, as decision making tools, and as a way to recognize one another.

Not to mention—when new employees and customers choose you because they believe in and live similar principles.

This won’t happen overnight, or even in a month or two. But if you practice over-communication day-in and day-out, you will experience a powerful transformation within your company.

And remember, your team takes cues from you. If you visibly champion and lead by your values, mission, and vision, each and every employee (if they are A-players) will proudly carry the mantel along with you.

So get pumped. Get fired-up. Feel awesome. Because soon these core elements will provide the foundation for something truly remarkable.

Interested in learning how Kinesis helps service-centric firms transform their marketing from the inside out? Give us a call at (503) 922–2289, or fill out the contact form below.

]]>0Wendy Maynardhttp://www.kinesisinc.com/?p=80712015-01-13T17:54:30Z2015-01-12T18:50:19ZWith January in full swing, ‘tis the season for New Year’s resolutions… and for many, this means shedding those holiday pounds at the gym.

But your waistline isn’t the only thing that may need a makeover. Now is also the perfect time to take a look at your business “figure” in the mirror, flex your strategic muscles, and begin trimming the fat to make your company run more effectively.

So, I’ve put together a quick list of 10 ways you can whip your organization into shape in 2015:

1) Hold regular strategic planning sessions

What do you want your organization to achieve this year? Schedule periodic meetings with your team to identify core goals, along with the forces impacting your business the most. Then, set a course to address these areas: set SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely) objectives, and hold specific team members accountable for their execution. Only once a strategic plan is in place can you take effective action.

2) Focus on existing customers

Acquiring a new customer is 5-7x more expensive than selling services to your existing clients—so a simple way to increase company profits is to focus on existing customers. To reduce acquisition expenses, brainstorm new ways to provide existing and past customers with new value and services, and work on lengthening customer retention.

3) Implement multiple ways to generate leads

Consistent acquisition of new customers is crucial to the success of any business, and the importance of proactive lead generation efforts cannot be overstated. Don’t let your company fall into the trap of waiting for sales opportunities to land on your desk.

4) Develop a systematic sales process

Creating a standardized sales system that everyone can follow is the fastest way to improve overall marketing results and bring in new revenue. Develop a pre-defined, step-by-step set of interactions that your salespeople will take prospects through in order to qualify and convert them.

5) Orient your business around a common
core purpose

Your ability to prosper as a company is not about what you sell, it’s about what you believe. A company’s core purpose is its collective reason for being, and it will motivate you and your employees to excel at work every day.

6) Live and breathe your company’s core values

If you can’t remember the last time your corporate values were referenced in conversation, your employees probably aren’t using them to guide their actions. Your company values should act as a constant compass, informing every decision you make.

7) Hire and nurture A+ players

It’s no secret that a company’s success stems directly from its people. Build a recruiting and hiring process that consistently attracts great talent, whose skills and personalities align with company culture.

8) Create an engaged workplace

Engaged employees are more productive and motivated—they produce higher quality work, take fewer sick days, and stay with your company longer. In addition to overcommunicating your purpose and values, create an engaged workforce by supporting your people and fueling their daily progress with goals and feedback.

9) Write a marketing plan

Outline what annual marketing results you’d like to achieve, and how you plan to get there. Use your marketing plan to identify your key marketing objectives and build a strategic framework around them.

10) Set a marketing budget

Once you’ve built out a marketing plan and identified the goals you’d like to achieve, establish a marketing budget based on your industry, company size, and growth stage. Any company with aggressive growth plans should see marketing as a very high priority.

If you’re able to implement these tips consistently throughout the year, your company is sure to be on pace for a fantastic 2015.

…No treadmill required.

Need help getting your marketing off the ground next year? We can help! Give us a call at (503) 922 – 2289 or fill out the contact form below.

]]>0Wendy Maynardhttp://www.kinesisinc.com/?p=80582014-12-24T17:34:31Z2014-12-23T18:08:14Z“Core purpose” – it’s been identified by the most influential business authorities of our time as one of the key ingredients for a high-performing organization.

Jim Collins and Jerry Poras, authors of the innovative business classic Built to Last, embarked upon a 6-year study of truly exceptional companies that have prospered over the long term, including well-known brands such as Hewlett-Packard, 3M, Procter & Gamble, Nordstrom, Disney, and Marriott. These long-lasting organizations each have a remarkable average of 100+ years of sustained business performance. The stock of these organizations has performed 15 times better than the overall stock market has since 1926.

Collins and Poras uncovered some key components that have allowed all of these high-performance businesses to both endure and thrive.

One of these key components is a deeply-held core purpose that creates a strong sense of identity and continuity throughout a business.

Here’s how Collins and Poras describe an organization’s core purpose:

[It’s] the organization’s fundamental reason for being. An effective purpose reflects the importance people attach to the company’s work—it taps their idealistic motivations—and gets at the deeper reasons for an organization’s existence beyond just making money.

What’s your company’s core purpose?

A core purpose is bigger than a charismatic leader, product, service, team, or technology.

As Simon Sinek says in his book, Start with Why, it’s the idea of who you are as a company and why you exist. As such, an organization’s core purpose has to be completely idealistic.

Your ability to prosper as a company is not about what you sell, it’s about what you believe. And it should drive everything you do.

Unfortunately, too many companies fail to capture this concept. Instead, they end up with uninspiring, cliché mission statements that are neither motivating nor memorable. These businesses are often driven solely by profit and performance, which in today’s rapidly evolving marketplace isn’t sustainable.

“Leaders die, products become obsolete, markets change, new technologies emerge, and management fads come and go, but core ideology in a great company endures as a source of guidance and inspiration,” Collins writes.

The whole point of your core purpose is to motivate and lead your people. It’s the glue that holds your company together as it grows, expands, and diversifies. Employees at every level of your company must know that at the heart of what they do is something meaningful that continuously anchors their daily activities.

Defining your core purpose is all about clarity, genuineness, and alignment. It doesn’t have to sound impressive on a billboard or as a tagline. It does, however, have to be meaningful to your business.

A true core purpose will endure throughout the lifetime of your company.

Meaning drives engagement

Employees at every level of your company must know that at the heart of what they do each and every day is something that is meaningful. Every day they come to work, they crave a reason for why they are at their job. People fundamentally want to know that what they are doing serves a greater purpose.

Of course, your team knows that their day-to-day responsibilities boil down to tangible, tactical, productive work. But when they know that their daily work is part of the bigger mission, they are more driven to show up every day on time and do their job well.

As a whole, a well-communicated core purpose results in a workforce that is more engaged. Engaged employees work with passion and they feel a profound connection to their company. They cooperate to build a company and they create new customers.

Companies with a highly engaged workforce improved operating income by 19.2% over a period of 12 months, whilst those companies with low engagement scores saw operating income decline by 32.7% over the same period.

2010, Towers Watson Strategies for Growth study.

A clear understanding of how a person’s job contributes to their company’s reason for being is a powerful form of emotional compensation. It, quite simply, is more thrilling to share a common purpose than complete a job.

How do you identify your core purpose?

Collins identifies five important characteristics of a company’s core purpose:

It’s inspiring to those inside the company.

It’s something that’s as valid 100 years from now as it is today.

It should help you think expansively about what you could do but aren’t doing.

It should help you decide what not to do.

It’s truly authentic to your company.

Bear in mind, your core purpose is not your strategic differentiator. In fact, you can have the same or a similar core purpose as another company, even one that is in an entirely different industry.

For example, both an interior design company and a landscape company might have a core purpose of “bringing beauty to people’s lives.” A puzzle company and a team-building event organization may share a core purpose to “provide tools of imagination.”

Not sure where to start? Here are some questions that can help you determine your core purpose:

Why does our organization’s existence matter?

What is our most important reason for being here? Why?

What would be lost if this organization ceased to exist?

Why are we important to the people we serve?

Why would anyone dedicate their precious time, energy, and passion to our company? (Note: the answer is not money.)

Defining your core purpose is all about clarity, authenticity, and alignment. This means that you do not have to sound “sexy.” This is not something that has to sound impressive on a billboard. It does, however, have to feel meaningful. You’ll know when you finally identify your core purpose because it will be accompanied by a strong sense of conviction. Your team will feel a deep “yes!” when it is uncovered.

Delving into the depths of your business and finding your core purpose will take effort – it’s a major evolution in thinking. But when you make the strides to shape your business from the inside out, you are undertaking actions that have a high ROI.

]]>0Susie Wittbrodthttp://www.kinesisinc.com/?p=80262014-11-19T23:52:50Z2014-11-19T20:32:05ZAt Kinesis, we’re in the business of innovation. And as a forward-thinking organization, we’re in great company in Portland. Our city is chock-full of companies just like us: small- to medium-sized businesses with big dreams and pioneering ideas.

The Portland Business Journal (PBJ) spearheaded the inaugural Small Business & Innovation Awards this year to celebrate the impact and resourcefulness of these small-but-mighty firms in our business community. And, with over 100 local business nominated, Kinesis is incredibly thrilled to have been chosen as a Top-Five honoree for 2014!

The Small Business & Innovation Awards focus on company differentiation within the industry, as well as product or service innovation that has changed the dynamics of the marketplace. It also emphasizes community involvement, staff training, and customer service.

“It’s amazing to be part of this celebration of Portland companies,” said CEO Shawn Busse. “Kinesis is honored to be counted among some of the most creative and successful businesses in the area.”

Thinking big at Kinesis

If you’re familiar with Kinesis, you know that thinking big is in our DNA. We’ve strived for innovation in our field by reinventing the tired marketing approaches of the past. We built Marketing From the Inside Out™ to shift the paradigm for B2B service-centric companies—helping them grow, thrive, and build great cultures.

We are humbled to be among the other esteemed honorees in our category—reinventing their own industries and bringing innovative new ideas to the Portland business landscape.

Thank you to the PBJ for this honor, and to our clients and partners for making our continued success possible!

To learn more about Kinesis’ radically different approach to B2B marketing, click here or give us a call at (503) 922 – 2289.

]]>0Susie Wittbrodthttp://www.kinesisinc.com/?p=79672014-11-06T17:35:47Z2014-11-05T22:06:15Z2015 is right around the corner—which means now is the time to reflect, identify wins and challenges, and make any necessary adjustments to strategy looking into next year.

If your company has an annual marketing plan, this would mean pulling yours off the shelf. However, according to EMyth’s SOBO (State of the Business Owner), less than half of small businesses owners report actually having a written marketing plan for their company.

And who could blame them? Marketing plans are notorious for taking up hours of energy once a year, and then gathering dust for 51 weeks. So it’s not surprising that a majority of business owners forego it.

This is unfortunate, however, since the same report (which surveyed more than 800 business owners in 47 different countries) uncovered that companies with a written marketing plan saw 30% faster growth than those without. And those with a written company vision grew 50% faster.

Stats like those are hard to ignore. With the year-end fast approaching, now is the time to set your marketing budget, establish objectives, and put forth the plan that will shape your 2015.

…No pressure.

What is a marketing plan?

If you’re like some small business owners, you might be wondering what the term “marketing plan” is even referring to.

Simply put, a marketing plan outlines what annual marketing results you’d like to achieve, and how you plan to get there.

A great marketing plan would also include details like your target market, competitive positioning, and key differentiators.

In theory, a marketing plan is a great preparation and accountability tool. In practice, however, it is more often a cumbersome and impractical chore. Which is why at Kinesis, we’ve thrown the tired marketing plan of the past out the window, and replaced it with a single-page, editable working document—designed to help your team execute and keep an eye on the prize. We call it the Kinesis Marketing Blueprint™. And the way we see it, it requires a few key fundamentals:

WHO: Your target audience, defined in persona-level detail

USP: Your “unique selling point,” or what sets you apart from your competition

Centers of Influence: Physical or digital spaces at which your WHO congregates—where you can turn a lot of heads at once

Marketing Initiatives: An exhaustive and well-researched list of key marketing channels where your target customer is most likely to engage with your brand

Benefits: Financial, economical, and emotional benefits your company provides to your WHO

Execution and Accountability: An implementation timeline and allocated responsibility to ensure initiatives are completed on-time and on budget

Developing your marketing strategy

The first step to writing your marketing plan is to identify your key marketing objectives, and build a strategic framework around them. Start by asking, “Where would I like to see the company a year from now?” and then work backwards. What is standing between that goal and where the company is today? What steps can you take tomorrow, a month from now, six months from now to close that gap? These questions are the foundation for a larger strategic discussion that will help shape your marketing plan.

But it ain’t broke, so why fix it?

It’s tempting to wave off a marketing plan with the simple declaration of “What we’re doing is working.” This is great news, but unfortunately doesn’t get you off the hook—as it still doesn’t negate the need to think strategically about the future. Evaluating successes is just as important as evaluating failures—if not more so.

If you find your team along this train of thought, ask yourself: How are you measuring your marketing success? What specifically is working? Why? Has this strategy always worked for you? Is it likely to continue to be successful in the future?

Perhaps more importantly, is there anything that isn’t working? You may be happy with overall performance, but that doesn’t mean every tactic employed during the year should be repeated. What mistakes were made, and how can you avoid them next year?

Then, zoom out and examine what other business opportunities might have been previously overlooked or deemed irrelevant. Certainly your company isn’t in the exact same position as it was a year ago. What’s different? Has the company grown in size? Seen a change in leadership? Any shift in business offering? How does this affect your strategic direction looking into next year, and how can you adjust your marketing plan to reflect this?

Setting your marketing budget

Once you’ve determined your strategic objectives, the next step is to calculate your marketing budget and allocate resources. Depending on your specific goals, this calculation can yield a wide range of results. For instance, a company looking to rebrand or invest in a new website, is likely to look a lot different than a company with modest growth goals and well-established brand awareness.

But marketing initiatives aren’t the only determining factor—as investment is also affected by industry, company size, and competitive landscape. And of course, all marketing should be viewed as a profit center, not a cost center—and therefore setting the budget for any marketing effort should be based on the potential return of that effort.

The nature of marketing

Asking these tough questions is absolutely vital to realizing your business goals. Why? Because you’ll be hard-pressed to find any marketing strategy that worked five years ago and is still serving you well today. In fact—fully half of successful marketing tactics this year will be deemed ineffective next year.

The nature of marketing (for that matter, the whole business world) is fickle, fluctuating, and temporary. Technology evolves, trends rise and fall, as do customer preferences and expectations.

Without a marketing plan, stale strategies are likely to lead to underwhelming results… to the tune of bleak revenues and stunted company growth. And you’ll be scratching your head wondering how it happened, because what you were doing was working.

Why this is important

With the pressure to improve business performance ever-present, marketing plans are often a source of stress and frustration for business owners. And it’s no wonder—strategic thinking is hard. When day-to-day operations consume all your time and energy, lifting your head to think big picture is easy to forget.

This year, we challenge you to take a step back, evaluate business potential, and start to think strategically about your marketing.

Are you a business leader, and need help developing a marketing plan for your service-centric company? Fill out the form below to schedule your free, 30-minute marketing assessment for 2015.

]]>0Wendy Maynardhttp://www.kinesisinc.com/?p=78852015-01-12T18:01:10Z2014-10-22T15:00:44ZIn the early 1900s, Reverend Russell Conwell – founder of Temple University – gave a popular speech called “Acres of Diamonds.” The moral of the story is this:

Your diamonds are not in far distant mountains or in yonder seas. They are in your own backyard – if you but dig for them.

Personally, I don’t love the diamond industry. And while, arguably, gold mining has its own historical and environmental issues, I tend to refer to Reverend Conwell’s concept as ‘Mining for Gold’ when I work with clients.

The “gold mine”

In business, one of your largest assets is your “Gold Mine,” which consists of all the current relationships you have in your network. That means your customers, your opportunities, and your leads are all a part of your Gold Mine. It also includes your business partners, suppliers, referrers, and your centers of influence.

Unfortunately, many business leaders overlook their Gold Mine – seeking riches that are farther away – and (in many ways) more challenging to reach. In this article, I discuss why ‘Mining for Gold’ is a viable strategy in any business, and why you should focus on your existing customers as much as your funnel.

Acquisition is expensive

Many companies come to us and are deeply interested in launching lead generation campaigns to find new customers or clients. They want to know, “How can I get more people and businesses into our pipeline?”

Of course, this is a crucial conversation – every organization needs effective marketing and sales tactics to bring in new customers. I fully agree that you should work to create multiple pillars of marketing that bring fresh opportunities to your sales people.

And, let’s admit it – lead generation is a seductive route for growing revenue. Acquiring new customers involves the thrill of the hunt and the close of the sale. New customers can energize your team and create a lot of initial work that keeps everyone busy. In many ways, you feel like a new customer makes your business more money even though onboarding and ramp-up time means less profit.

But here’s the kicker – it is a mistake to focus most of your efforts on front-end sales in lieu of mining the gold in your own backyard. Why? The most profitable, inexpensive, and consistent revenue comes from the loyal customers who already know and like your company.

It’s a mistake we see all too often, especially in service-centric businesses. Acquiring new customers is expensive (five to seven times the cost of retaining an existing one), and repeat customer spends an average of 67% more than a new one! According to a Harvard Business Review study, a 5% increase in customer retention can increase a company’s profitability by 85%.

Why is acquisition so expensive?

In almost all businesses, acquiring a new customer requires a big up-front investment. Whether you’re using Google AdWords, direct mail, cold calls, or traditional advertising, there is a large price associated with bringing new prospects into your funnel – this includes the cost for the marketing (i.e. strategic planning, design time, copywriting, postage, materials, printing, advertising fees, etc.) as well as internal staff time associated with closing the deal and learning about your new client. And, as I mentioned, new customers will not spend as much as existing customers because they are just getting to know, like, and trust you.

How to mine the gold in your backyard

In a study by Marketing Metrics, researchers found the probability of selling to an existing customer is 60-70%. Compare that with the probability of selling to a new prospect (only 5-20%) and you’ll see that the numbers show compelling support for mining the gold in your backyard.

There are many ways to deepen relationships with your existing and past customers. When you focus your attention on your Gold Mine, seek out ways that you may be able to provide customers with new value and services. Having helped client after client dig into the Gold Mine, I have identified an effective methodology for uncovering additional opportunities to serve and add value to your existing relationships.

Develop a systematic sales process: Start by examining the way you sell your services and products. In most cases, companies lack a systematic sales process or account management system that allows its customers to know the entire breadth and depth of its offerings. It’s common for employees to assume that their prospects and customers understand everything your business offers – and this assumption is almost always wrong.

Educate your clients on your offerings: Your next step is to develop an ongoing process where your prospects and customers are educated on your offerings – this should start at your initial sales conversations, continue to their onboarding, and be a lasting part of their account maintenance. It isn’t up to your customers to figure out or remember the full scope of your offerings – it’s up to you to keep them continuously informed.

Make everyone a salesperson: Your entire team must be able to upsell and cross-sell your products and services. That’s right – not just your sales or marketing teams – it has to come from every department. I know that some of you are squirming – many business leaders struggle to imagine every member of team on their sales force. I’m here to tell you that it is possible – and it’s actually essential for effectively mining the gold in your backyard! When you’ve got your entire team helping to sell, you can work collaboratively to analyze and improve upsell patterns.

Provide amazing customer service: According to a survey by Dimensional Research, 66% of B2B and 52% of B2C customers stopped buying after a bad customer service interaction. That means amazing customer service is non-negotiable and must be prioritized from the highest leadership to the front line. Make sure everyone in your company has a deep understanding of what is important to your customers (on-time delivery, exceptional tracking abilities, regular reporting, quick service turnaround, etc.) – and then consistently deliver it.

Set up a customer retention program: Customers don’t owe you their loyalty – you have to continuously earn it. Create a retention program that allows you to identify, track, and promote the clients who are most likely to be loyal, long-term sources of profitable revenue. Your mission? Reduce customer pain points and friction, make it a delight for your customers to do business with you, and find ways to thank them often.

This methodology for mining the gold in your backyard has proven to be a strong strategy for many of our client businesses. Time and time again, we see that providing a higher level of value to your customers means that they are more satisfied, more willing to invest in your services or offerings, and are more excited about providing referrals and word-of-mouth marketing.

Increased profitability from your existing customers and higher levels of revenue and retention… all at a lower investment? No wonder we call it a Gold Mine.

]]>1Susie Wittbrodthttp://www.kinesisinc.com/?p=78362014-10-07T23:11:11Z2014-10-06T19:34:08ZThe Kinesis team is thrilled to unveil the brand new KinesisInc.com!

Over the past four years, Kinesis has gone through an evolution in how we serve our clients. And like many companies, this growth surpassed the messaging and imagery on our website. So we decided to completely transform it – determined to create a new platform that would more accurately tell the story of who we are today, and how we help our client businesses grow.

We invite you to take a look around and send us your feedback. You can connect with us through our Contact page, on LinkedIn, or Facebook.

Let us give you the grand tour

There’s a lot to see on the new website, so we’ll help show you around:

Work: In the mood for a visual treat? Grab some popcorn and explore our design portfolio, where you can read more about how we’ve helped incite transformation in our client companies.

About: Want to learn more about who we are and what we do? Here is where you can read about Kinesis, our mission and core values, and the type of clients we serve.

Approach: It’s no secret that Kinesis handles marketing a little differently than most. Discover our unique business philosophy, and how we can help you grow from the inside out.

The Kinesis Blog has also been completely reimagined, to better serve our various audiences in the marketing community. Are you a business leader, looking for executive-level advice? You’ll find it in our Leadership section. On the hunt for dynamite marketing strategies? Hop on over to our Marketing section for the best tips and tools. Interested in how to create an engaged internal culture in your organization? Look no further – our Culture section is here to help.

Visiting on your phone or tablet? No problem.

With mobile browsing at an all-time high, there is a growing chance you’re reading this on a tablet or mobile browser. To serve your on-the-go needs, we’ve employed Responsive Design for our new website – meaning that our site is designed to respond to your device, regardless of its shape or size. So tap, click, swipe, or scroll away.

Who we are

Our new website is the intentional, online representation of our team, our clients, and what’s important to us. But our “big idea” hasn’t changed in 15 years – we’re still committed to our mission of transformation in everything we do. As always, we seek to transform our clients’ brands and businesses, transform the lives of our employees, and transform the marketing paradigm for B2B service providers into one that works from the inside out. Because great cultures lead to great companies.

Thank you to our clients, partners, and friends for your continued support, and enabling us to fulfill this mission.

Dilbert’s perception of marketing would imply that it’s an industry made of guesswork – throwing darts to see what sticks.

That would explain why many business leaders see marketing as a source of stress and frustration. As with most things in life, we want clear, undisputed answers – a surefire way to hit the bulls-eye every time. What works? What doesn’t? Which marketing tactics produce tangible results, and which are a waste of money? Answering these questions is a tall order, which is why many marketing initiatives don’t work.

Therein lies the rub.

The unfortunate reality is this: let’s say you’re able to iron out your company’s unique situation – taking into account your industry, company size, growth stage, competition, and ROI goals – and answer each of these questions with absolute certainty. You know, with unequivocal conviction, that XYZ is the solution to your marketing woes.

…And in all likelihood, a year from now those tactics will be deemed completely ineffective.

Not a guessing game, just a moving target.

There’s a difference between throwing darts to a stationary target, and throwing them at a target on a moving train. The fact is, marketing is dynamic, complex, and in a perpetual state of flux. What produces tremendous ROI one year may very well fall flat the next, and a tactic that initially seemed to have no business relevance may become a primary revenue stream just a few months later.

Sadly, in the small business space, owners often don’t get the memo until it’s much too late – which is why many still think of Facebook as ‘the next big thing’.

Marketing Tactics by Budget Allocation

To demonstrate this phenomenon, take a look at how B2B companies choose to distribute their marketing spend from year to year. Consider the data below from the Marketing Sherpa B2B Benchmark Report, which outlines the difference in marketing budget allocation for B2B companies from 2010 – 2011:

Take SEO, for example. In 2010, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) seemed like a sound marketing investment for B2B companies – ranking a respectable # 4 in investment percentage. It would be safe to assume, in 2010, that SEO was an effective and desirable marketing tactic.

One short year later, however, interest in SEO dropped. Search Engine Optimization claimed only 9% of budget allocation – less than half of its front-running competitors – and dollars were otherwise deployed toward paid search, tradeshows, and print advertising.

Marketing tactics by effectiveness

As you might expect, when asked about their perceived effectiveness of each of these tactics in the same survey, B2B companies reported SEO as being 7% less of an effective tactic in 2011 than in 2010.

Business leaders had similar sentiments toward virtual events and webinars: In 2010, a whopping 43% of B2B companies reported virtual events and webinars to be a “very effective” marketing tactic …whereas the very next year, less than half (19%) of those same companies reported feeling the same.

In other words, what produced results 12 months before was now being tossed aside as irrelevant.

The lesson? Trends in marketing – as in life – are perpetually evolving. New technologies are sprouting up daily, and marketing tactics are only as relevant as the customers who flock to them.

The problem with existing marketing models

Unfortunately, when tackling marketing, many companies are still operating under the assumption that – like accounting, HR, and many other business functions – marketing must be a static entity. This leads to misguided marketing approaches, including:

The In-House Marketer

In-house marketers are often the unsung heroes of an organization – wearing too many hats, stretched too thin, and typically relegated to administrative tasks and sales support. There are many reasons for the ineffectiveness of hiring a person to fill your marketing need – namely, it severely inhibits the company’s ability to think at a higher strategic level.

Because of this ‘task-master’ function, the in-house marketer rarely has the time (or ability) to pick their head up to see how the marketing landscape is changing. With no immediately discernable reason to adjust tactics, he/she will default to what they know or what they’ve done before – letting effective strategies grow stale, and often perpetuating bad habits.

The Tactical Solution

Another common approach is to hire a marketing firm with an area of tactical expertise (in other words, “one trick ponies.” Examples include:

Website Design Firm

Search Engine Optimization Company

Branding Agencies

Companies like this are great for larger corporations – with a sophisticated marketing infrastructure, and the ability to hone in on a singular tactical need. Tactical agencies are also a reasonable solution for startups; with limited capital, these businesses can only afford taking on small projects one at a time. For growing businesses, however, the tactical approach is less than ideal. Small businesses often have a variety of diverse marketing needs, and a specialized firm will only solve one symptom of an often larger marketing problem.

Rather than utilizing a firm specializing in a tactic, look for marketing expertise in your industry. For example, if you’re in retail, hire a marketing firm with a track record of working with retailers; if you are a B2B service provider, look for a company with deep expertise in this arena. Whatever your specific offering, partner with a firm who knows how to market a company exactly like yours. This kind of deliberate focus provides a much more relevant expertise than specialized marketing tactics.

The Predatory Company

The fact is, if you’re a small to medium-sized business (or SMB), you’re part of a massive market. At last count, small businesses represent 46% of gross domestic product – making them a very attractive target for certain kinds of marketing service companies. However, it’s tough to turn SMBs into profit unless there’s a high number of transactions (think Wal-Mart here: it’s success is driven by high numbers, thin margins, and low quality). Most offerings for SMBs, sadly, are structured around the “one size fits none” ideology.

Take heed, there are actually dangers of partnering with these types of predatory businesses. And not metaphorical “dangers” like ugly design – actual monsters under the bed, and less-than-ethical business practices.

Unfortunately, business owners are often taken advantage of by companies like this, seduced by “guarantees” of immediate results. But if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Here are just a few examples of unhappy customers who learned this lesson the hard way:

Consequences of misguided marketing solutions

These ineffective marketing models don’t just waste your company’s time and money – they can actually affect your brand integrity. What’s worse, your business will see underwhelming marketing results in a gradual, non-dramatic way – a slow, steady decline easily blamed on other factors.

The solution

With the landscape constantly changing, and both internal and external options bringing obvious drawbacks, how can companies make sure they’re staying ahead of the marketing curve?

The answer is simple (but far from easy): The only way to hit a moving target is to travel at the same pace. Good marketers must have their finger on the pulse each and every day.

So the next time you’re wondering why your marketing isn’t up to speed, ask yourself – am I on the train? Or am I standing on the tracks watching it go by?

]]>0Guest Contributorhttp://www.kinesisinc.comhttp://www.kinesisinc.com/?p=68432014-11-10T22:33:56Z2014-07-30T19:55:05ZTrade shows and exhibitions tend to be one of the most expensive forms of marketing, which is why some businesses (particularly small businesses or start-ups) get discouraged when it comes to the cost. However, many don’t realize how lucrative these events can be if the right steps are taken to prepare your team and generate leads.

One common misconception is that sales are made at the trade show. While this can be true, most attendees want to shop around before making their purchase decision. Therefore, the relationship you build with them during and after the convention is critical.

Here are the top 7 ways to transform interested attendees into leads, and ensure the best possible return on your investment:

How to Generate Leads at Trade Shows

Trade Show Marketing Tip #1: Have a game plan

I’m far from a sports buff, but even I know that a coach wouldn’t put his team on the field without a play in mind. The same goes for trade shows; without a set goal and a plan on how to achieve it, you’re hurting your chances of success. Determine how many leads you would like to get, and write a list of qualifying questions for your booth visitors to find out their interest level in your products or services. The secret to a successful trade show or exhibition is to know, in advance, exactly what you want to achieve – and then craft detailed plans to help you deliver.

Trade Show Marketing Tip #2: Choose the trade show wisely

Despite popular belief, all trade shows are not created equal. Instead of signing up for every trade show within 50 miles of your area, search for events that you can expect your target demographic and competitors to attend. You’ll get more potential customers from one or two targeted shows than you would from dozens of conventions that have little to nothing to do with your industry.

Trade Show Marketing Tip #3: Dress for Success

If your employees wear uniforms, make sure they are clean, pressed, and hole-free. If uniforms are not part of your everyday work attire, dress appropriately (business casual or suits), depending on the type of trade show. Keep in mind that exhibitors are on their feet for hours at a time, so comfortable shoes are also important. Your first impression is going to last with attendees, so make it a good one.

Trade Show Marketing Tip #4: Prepare your booth

In addition to your team’s attire, the appearance of your booth can mean the difference between a qualified lead stopping to say hello or walking past without a second glance. Give some thought to how you would like to present your brand, product, and services at the show. Your signage, design, and words are a good place to start – make it abundantly obvious what your business does and who you serve at a glance.

Trade Show Marketing Tip #5: Say goodbye to the fishbowl

Instead of collecting tons of business cards that could easily get misplaced or relying on attendee handwriting, use a digital form on a smart phone or tablet to easily and clearly record all of the contact information you will need to get in touch with them after the show.

Trade Show Marketing Tip #6: Hand out giveaways

Freebies are great for attracting attention, so long as they’re aligned with your lead generation strategy. Help interested attendees remember your company with a free item related to your industry, with your company’s information on it. Dentists, for example, might hand out floss or tooth brushes. It doesn’t have to be expensive, but should effectively communicate your brand and offering.

Trade Show Marketing Tip #7: Follow up

The final and most important step is to follow up after the show. Give your leads a week or two to soak up all of the information given to them at your booth, and then reach out to say hello, remind them who you are, and let them know how great it was to meet them. Don’t wait more than a couple of weeks, or your potential buyer may have time to forget about all the helpful information they were given.

Trade shows can be expensive. However, with the right preparation and strategy, you can use them to increase brand awareness, generate leads, and maximize your ROI. These tips should help you get the best results at your upcoming event – making them well worth the investment.

About the author: Kristin Hovde is the Marketing Manager for Smash Hit Displays, an online trade show display company. She is also a regular blogger for Smash Hit Displays and a number of other trade show and marketing websites.